AI Accelerates Attacker Breakout Time to Just Four Minutes

ReliaQuest's Annual Cyber‑Threat Report 2026 finds that AI and automation have dramatically accelerated attacks—average breakout time fell to 34 minutes, with the fastest lateral movement and exfiltration measured in minutes—and reports 80% of ransomware groups using AI/automation; social engineering (including ClickFix and drive‑by compromise) is a leading initial access vector, common security failures (insufficient logging, unmanaged devices, weak identity controls, exposed internet‑facing devices) enable rapid breaches, and defenders can leverage agentic AI to reduce containment to minutes.